final-program-12-23-14-3

Sunday afternoon
42
Session BA: The Higgs and My
Classroom
Location: Nautilus Hall 1
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in High Schools
Date: Sunday, January 4
Time: 2–3:30 p.m. (30 minutes discussion time)
Presider: Kenneth Cecire
On July 4, 2012, the world changed with the announcement of the discovery of the
Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Can we bring the Higgs boson
from discovery to the classroom How might we do it Tom Jordan and Mike Wadness
from QuarkNet will lead off with thought-provoking invited presentations. We
will finish with a special discussion with distinguished Fermilab particle physicist
Chris Quigg, who will lead us into a discussion of whether we – and our students –
should care about the Higgs and what it means for physics. Dr. Quigg, who has long
experience with bringing particle physics to people at all levels, will start with a few
remarks and is looking forward to a robust conversation with all of us.
BA01: 2-2:30 p.m. Using Particle Physics to Teach About the
Nature of Science
Invited – Michael J. Wadness, Medford High School/QuarkNet 489,
Medford, MA 02155; mjwadness@verizon.net
For over 20 years national reform documents, including Next Generation
Science Standards, have advocated for the explicit instruction of
the nature of science (NOS) as a vehicle for achieving science literacy.
Unfortunately many teachers struggle with how to best implement
meaningful NOS instruction. One possible method is through the
context of particle physics research. This talk will demonstrate how
some QuarkNet activities that utilize current particle physics research
may be used as a context for NOS instruction. Furthermore these activities
may also provide a vehicle for connecting the traditional high
school curriculum with active physics research.
BA02:
2:30-3 p.m. Teaching and Learning Particle Physics
with QuarkNet
Invited – Thomas Jordan, University of Notre Dame, Physics Department,
Notre Dame, IN 46556; jordant@fnal.gov
Physics students at all levels should learn about the exciting research
currently taking place at universities and laboratories. Students can
comprehend much of what transpires in esoteric particle detectors
at Fermilab and CERN through the context of fundamental physics
tenets such as energy and momentum conservation. Want to learn the
mass of the Higgs Measure the energy and momentum of its decay
products and apply what you already know. I will discuss ways to
bring this exciting science to your classroom using a Data Portfolio
and in masterclasses. The former is a framework of activities that
guides students through simple to complex data analysis. The latter
is a one-day event that invites high school students to a university
campus for activities and interactions with researchers there. These
activities are offered by QuarkNet, a collaboration of physicists and
physics teachers that has worked since 1999 to help introduce particle
physics to high school classes and is supported by the National Science
Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Session BB: Recruitment and
Retention
BB01:
Location: Nautilus Hall 2
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in Undergraduate Education
Date: Sunday, January 4
Time: 2–2:50 p.m.
Presider: Kathleen Falconer
2-2:10 P.M. Tripled Our Number of Majors Through
Research and Retention Programs*
Contributed – Peter A. Sheldon, Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA
24503; psheldon@randolphcollege.edu
Katrin Schenk, Sarah Lawson, Randolph College
With the help of a National Science Foundation S-STEM grant, we
have instituted a recruitment and retention plan to increase the
number of physical science majors at Randolph College (total 700
students). While the grant provides scholarships to two cohorts of 12
students, we have exceeded our goal to recruit 24 students each year
into the physical sciences, and to retain them at a higher rate than the
college as a whole. We have also made research experiences the norm
for students starting from the first year. Our historical average was
2.7 physics majors/year, while we now have about 10 each year for
the foreseeable future, with an incredible 18% of the current first-year
class expressing some interest in physics or engineering. As well as an
active recruitment program and early research program, we have a
summer transition program, an industry mentor program, enhanced
tutoring, and a first-year seminar. This project is supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-1153997. Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the National Science Foundation.
*This project is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.
DUE-1153997.
BB02:
2:10-2:20 p.m. Ramping up Recruitment in Advance of a
New Physics Major
Contributed – Jolene L. Johnson, St. Catherine University, Minneapolis,
MN 55411; jljohnsonarmstrong@stkate.edu
Erick Agrimson, Kaye Smith, St. Catherine University
St. Catherine University is launching a new applied physics major in
fall 2016. In this talk, I will discuss the ways we are ramping up our
recruiting and retention of physics students. These methods include
adding a math review at the start of Physics I, adding an Intro to
Engineering class, working more closely with advising, starting a
freshman seminar for physical science majors, and designing new
student spaces in our new building. I will also discuss the challenges
we have encountered and our proposed solutions. These challenges
include historically poor advising of physical science students, designing
a curriculum that appeals to students interested in a wide variety
of careers, and the relatively low number of females taking physics in
high school.
BB03:
2:20-2:30 p.m. Building a Thriving Undergraduate
Physics Program from Scratch
Contributed – Charles De Leone, California State University San Marcos,
San Marcos, CA 92096; cdeleone@csusm.edu
Edward Price, California State University San Marcos
At CSU San Marcos, we recently began offering an undergraduate
degree in applied physics—our only physics degree program. We
graduated our first student in 2009, and currently have over 100 majors
in the program. CSUSM, located in north San Diego County, is a
Hispanic Serving Institution, and approximately 30% of our applied
physics majors are Hispanic. This talk will describe the development
of the program, recruiting efforts, and current challenges. We will
emphasize the critical features of our success and lessons that generalize
to other programs.
BB04:
2:30-2:40 p.m. A Learning Community for Freshman
Engineering Students
Contributed – Michael Eads, Northern Illinois University, Department of
Physics, DeKalb, IL 60115; meads@niu.edu
Daniel Stange, Northern Illinois University
For the past several years, Northern Illinois University (in DeKalb,
IL) has offered a Themed Learning Community (TLC) for freshman
engineering majors in their first semester. In this TLC, a group of 24
students are in the same sections of Calculus I and General Physics I.
Additional resources are provided by the university and coordination
between the calculus and the physics instructor is also encouraged.
The calculus and physics for engineers TLC is one of several TLCs
offered by the university. Data indicates that student grades and